Faith Builders Devotional

Deut 30:19-20

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I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; NKJV God has given to all of us a certain number of years to live. Before the flood, humans could live hundreds of years. My theory is that the ‘firmament’ that the Word talks about that covered the earth was an amazing cloud cover. It protected the earth from the sun’s harmful rays and created a tropical type of environment as it trapped the incoming rays. I believe this is why scientists have discovered ancient tropic plants and animals all over the world. The earth was like a big comfortable tropical paradise. Where did all the flood waters come from to cover the earth in water during Noah’s time? How could it rain and rain? The Word says the flood waters came from the firmament and the depths. I think the earth was quite different before the Flood. All this water that flooded the earth came from the cloud cover that was above and from the water table below the earth. What does that have to do with you and me? Interestingly enough, after the flood, the life-spans of people born after the flood got shorter and shorter. This is my theory about why people lived longer before the flood, we may never know all the details. One thing we do know is that you and I can live to a certain age. What is that age? Genesis 6:3 says, And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." On a flight back from Los Angeles, I picked up a book on nutrition that I read on the plane. It was written by two medical doctors. It talked about how important it is for us to eat right if we want to live well and long. One interesting point that they made, and that I will never forget, is that the human body is made up of cells. Those cells are designed to live hundreds of years. However, for some reason at about … you guessed it… 120 years… the cells start to shut down. I did a bit of research and found that the oldest living people of our recent generations live to 119 or 120 years of age. At the time I found out about a woman in France who was at 119. Isn’t that amazing? You can live up to 120 years if you take care of yourself. What is so important about long life? Check it out, Ps 91:16

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With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation." Long life is satisfying. Long life is a testimony of God’s goodness to you and I to the people around us. So do you know what I decided? I decided, I am living my 120 years. I am going the full route. We’ve got to realize that how long we live is based on our decision. It’s our choice. We just read in Deut 30:19-20 how we have to choose life. We have to do are part; eat natural foods (not processed), exercise regularly and strengthen our physical hearts, but most importantly, we need to seek God with all our being. Do you want to live long and strong? You can if you want. It’s your choice.

Deut 30:19-20

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I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; NKJV Being a minister is not a job for the faint-hearted. You get a chance to see all sorts of things. As a minister your job is to encourage people, teach the Word of God, and show people how to live the victory the Jesus won for us when He came back from the dead on resurrection day (also known as Easter). To me, Resurrection day is the most important holiday of the year because if Jesus did not come back from the dead, then there is no point of being a Christian. Jesus did rise from the dead, and we’ve got unbiased historical evidence (a Jewish historian of the time, Josephus is one of many sources) to prove how the world changed through this little group of believers which now numbers in the millions of committed believers world-wide. However, when you are in ministry helping out at your church, you really see that life is all about choices (definitely help your pastors as they need your support). God has given us all a life to make choices. What we are going to do with it? In Deuteronomy, we see Moses making it very clear. He asked people to make a choice, follow your own way and be cursed or follow God’s way, be blessed and be blessing. Once you know about God you really have to choose whether you are going to serve God or are you going to serve yourself. Most churches have so many people coming and going. It breaks my heart to see these people that come occasionally to church and wonder why God is not doing more in their lives. They wonder why their children rebel. They wonder why they have marital problems. They think God is not faithful because they are financially struggling. People, we need to find a good church and be there every Sunday. It is the father’s responsibility to make sure to get his wife and kids to church. If the wife will not come, then the husband needs to be there every week showing his children that he is putting God first. If you practice with champions, you are more likely to be a champion. Our church is very strong on faith. We are also strong on giving as God wants us to be good stewards with our resources. Countless times I have had people come to church asking why God is not blessing them. One question usually mutes their question immediately, “Are you regularly tithing to your home church?” The answer has always been “No” or “I do when I can”. People are wondering why they are not blessed financially or in their job. The answer is clear, they chose not to give their first fruits to God and so He cannot bless them. In fact, when we don’t tithe, Malachi 3:8-10 says we are actually robbing God. Tithing is a choice, and actually what you do every day is your choice. We make a major choice when we choose a certain job, a certain spouse, a certain place to live.. Most of the things that happen to us each day are because of the choices we have made. We also have to make choices each day, “I feel an itch in my throat”, will I fight it or just accept it? My boss has treated me harshly, will I try to get even or do more by praying for his or her salvation? I am very upset about what my spouse said to me, will I shout back or pray that God make that person to be more sensitive to my feelings? Life is about making the right choices. Most of our troubles are caused by making the wrong choices. However, when you believe God and are committed to Him each day, you will start to see Him working in your life if you let Him. He will give you wisdom if you ask Him. But you have to choose who you are going to serve. Tired of making wrong choices? We all have done it. Draw closer to God and He will help you make the right decisions and live a full and abundant life.

Gen 39:4-6

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So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. 5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. NKJV Growing up in America, we have this so-called American Dream that says we should have a house, a car, a healthy family and much more. After World War II, many people worked very hard and attained that dream. However, with time it is really easy for us to get lazy and just think we deserve something because the neighbour has it. Governments may try to implement socialistic platforms such as this, but this is not how God’s Kingdom or His law works. You have to prove yourself. You’ve got to be a good steward. A steward is someone who is responsible for managing, allocating, and using other people’s things that are entrusted to them. If you want to do more in God’s Kingdom you have to be faithful with what you’ve got. You can’t complain about being born into a poor family, being abused as a child, your husband or wife, your bad job, your living conditions. Start where you are at. Joseph is one of my two favorite men in the Bible. He went from the favorite son of his father who got whatever he wanted, to a young man sold into slavery in a foreign land with nothing. He didn’t whine or complain and wallow in his situation. He worked hard in his situation and loved God with all of his heart. He was a good-looking guy and he was blessed because he was a good steward. We know his heart was right and this was his strength and will be ours as well. Several times his boss’ wife tried to seduce him. He replied, How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Gen 39:9 He stood up and did the right thing and God blessed Him even more. He eventually became the top guy in the country just under the king. When you are entrusted with things, you have to remember that God is the ultimate owner. I am sure that Joseph’s boss was very pleased with his faithfulness. As a believer, Yahweh blessed the fruit of Joseph’s labor because he kept a pure heart. God has entrusted you with various things. Be a good steward of what you’ve got. Once you have proven you can handle small things God will entrust you with bigger and greater things.

Luke 18:25-27
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 26 And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"

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But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." NKJV I have heard so many people share this story of the Eye of the Needle and say, ‘See, rich people can’t go to heaven’. If that were true, then wouldn’t that make God unfair to limit rich people from heaven? We have to be certain that when we hear people make comments like this to make sure they are taking the Word in context. We are supposed to love God with all we are. Deuteronomy 6:5 says 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. NKJV God loves you wholeheartedly, and He desires that we return that love to Him. God is love. Picture this, a religious guy comes to Jesus and says He wants to follow Him. The guy is probably from a rich family, because the Word says he has wealth. This rich leader came to Jesus expecting to be commended or honored as that is what he was used to receiving from people. He was known because of his possessions. However physical things don’t matter in the Kingdom of God so much. The question is not what you have it is who you have. How is your relationship with Yahweh? Jesus tested this guy because He knew His heart. The guy said he has obeyed the law, but we all know that no one is perfect. So Jesus challenged him saying, okay, then all you have to do now is give away everything you own. The guy left there with his head down because he didn’t want to do that. If he would have just shown that His relationship with God was more important than his goods, the story would have changed. His response disappointed Jesus as well. When he left Jesus said, it is more difficult for a rich man to enter heaven than you can imagine. His illustration was that of a gate called ‘The Eye Of the Needle’. It was a gate within a gate. At night, cities would close their gates to protect from attack. Individuals would have to come in one by one through a smaller gate. You would have to demount the camel, unload all the luggage, and lead the camel through the little gate on it’s knees. Once on the other side of the wall, you would carry all your luggage through and eventually reload it on the camel on the other side. It was a lot of work for the traveller to bring the camel through the eye of the needle if they arrived at a city after dusk. Jesus’s statement shocked His friends as they thought he was saying it was impossible for rich people to get into heaven. He clarified by saying that nothing is impossible with God. God is not a respecter of persons. He sees all of us equally. When we confess our sins, repent, and turn from them He sees us as perfect because Jesus is perfect. His blood has washed us clean. However, we have to be careful that our earthly things don’t become spiritual baggage that holds us down and prevents us from attaining His plans. God wants you blessed so you can be a blessing. He doesn’t want you tied down by what you have. He wants you to use what you have for His glory. Tithe to your local church, give to those ministries that are helping people, become a giver and watch what you have increase. That is God’s plan as He wants people know that He loves them and has a wonderful plan for them.

Ps 32:11
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
And shout for joy, all you upright in heart! NKJV
One of the things I have learned about faith is that you’ve got to voice it out. We have to remember that there are two worlds we live in. Everyone knows the physical world we live in. They can see its trees, rivers, buildings, people, sky, and so forth. However, there is a world that is more real than that. As an unbeliever, we have little influence or power over this world. I am talking about the spiritual world.
The spiritual world is more real than the physical world. The human eye cannot see the spirit world, but the human spirit can. When you repent and come to Jesus, you become spiritually new. The Word says we are a ‘new creation’ (2 Cor. 5:17). When your spirit becomes new within you, you can begin to see God’s spiritual world. Faith is our connection between the spiritual and the physical. It does not stop there. Faith is the connector and your mouth is how you express your faith.
When you read through the Psalms you will see that Psalms talks a lot about what we do with our mouths. Singing, exhorting, shouting… I love that shouting. Psalm 32:11 says to shout for joy. Why is it so important that you say things? The Word says that faith comes by hearing.
After a couple years in Japan, the church we were attending was taken over by a new pastor, sent from the denomination in the US. They made a big mistake as he was clearly not called as a pastor. He was not loving or kind and did not care for people. He did some nasty things to many people in the church and really hurt that family of believers. My wife and I decided to leave as we didn’t enjoy the church. However, he had hurt me and I left a bit spiritually wounded.
Every time I thought of the guy I had negative thoughts and feeling about him. I couldn’t believe what he did to people. However, when I was talking to God, the Holy Spirit showed me, I had to forgive him for his horrible actions. From that point, whenever I thought of him I would verbally say, ‘I forgive’ and say his name. I did it every time. You know for the first few days, I had to do it by faith because I didn’t want to forgive him. However, within a week of saying “I forgive”, when I thought of him, I was able to forgive him. I was so joyful because I realized what the enemy wanted to use to wreck me, I turned around and got my joy back. I had something to shout about. I was free from unforgiveness! I had peace and saw that guy as God saw him. He was a hurt person. Hurt people, hurt other people.
Shouting is something you do when you have confidence. When I am watching my daughter play basketball, I can shout ‘shoot’ to encourage her that the time is right to put that ball in the basket. When you can shout, you are close to victory. In Joshua 6:20 Joshua told the people of God to shout.
So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
That shouting connected the physical world with the spiritual world. Their faith shout brought the walls of the enemy tumbling down.
If you want to be a powerful believer, don’t be afraid to shout it out. Speak to your problems, speak to the challenges, rebuke the heavy spirits you feel trying to take your joy. Most importantly, shout for joy and watch the walls come down!
Confession-
Thank you Jesus for your deliverance! Thank you for your blood this wash me and makes me clean and pure before you! Thank you for your protection on my family! Thank you for healthy children! God, you are good! I sing and I shout your praises! You are good and your mercies last forever!